Fishing at Saddle Lake, Kelsey, Manitoba

• Overview

  The Kelsey end of Manitoba holds Saddle Lake. The setting is boreal forest on every side. With some 71 hectares of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. With 6.0 km or so of shoreline, boat anglers cover ground the bank cannot. 60 km away sits Flin Flon, the nearest town. Saskatoon sits 490 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Saddle Lake

  Depth is not on record here, which means reading the ground instead. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Species logged across Kelsey include white sucker, johnny darter and northern pike. Species recorded across the county may be limited to a few waters. At Saddle Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year July sits at 17°C and January at -23°C. Cold dominates the calendar on water this far north. Count the season from break-up, usually early May. The lid tends to go about early May and return around early November. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. Expect Saddle Lake to follow that timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public sources are silent on who controls the bank. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Nothing formal is recorded here: no ramp, no car park, no marked path. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Where a permit is needed, the nearest town usually sells it. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. Failing this one, try Boot Lake, 1.4 km away. Nothing on Saddle Lake should be assumed from this page alone.